Peaked Hill Reservation Chilmark, Massachusetts
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Peaked Hill Reservation Chilmark, Massachusetts Management Plan Revised April 27, 2018 Approved by the Chilmark Town Advisory Board () Approved by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission () Approved by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs () Julie Russell – Ecologist Executive Summary Featuring the highest point in the prominent range hills that form the terminal moraine of the Wisconsin stage glaciers, Peaked Hill Reservation straddles North and Middle Road. The Reservation comprises 148.9 acres in Chilmark and has an undulating contour of wooded hill crests and valleys of both open pastures and dense tangled shrublands. From the reservation emerge the headwaters of Roaring Brook, Fulling Mill Brook and Mill Brook. Boulders of varying shapes and sizes dust the surface while stonewalls meandering through the woodland attest to the countless smaller stones cleared for agrarian uses long ago. The property is eponymously named for the prominent Peaked Hill that rises into an assembly of four peaks with heights reaching 311 feet. This marks the tallest locale on Martha’s Vineyard. The name Peaked is derived from “peak” meaning “the crest or summit of a hill or mountain ending in a point; a mountain with such a pointed summit; the highest or utmost point of anything; the top rear corner of a fore-and-aft sail, the upper end of the gaff.” Being the tallest hill on the island, and given the island’s strong history with the sea, one could foster the image of Peaked Hill as the tallest ships sail among the fleet of hills in the northern moraine. The hill may also have been used as a site mark for recording boundaries in the early deeds. One such example occurs in a deed from Mary Hillman et al. to Ephraim Mayhew dated June 10, 1858. The property being described “on the North by Chilmark pond, on the East by land of Ephraim Mayhew, on a straight line striking the West ridge of a barn formerly owned by Mary Hancock on a line with a peaked rock on the hill near where the house of James Allen stood, on the West by meadow land of Charles Weeks and George D. Cottle, on the South including all the meadows and beach that belonged to former owners of the above described premises” (Dukes County Registry of Deeds, Book 38, Pages 276- 278). The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission purchased, in fee simple, the 148.9 acres of Peaked Hill Reservation as follows: 71.6 acres at auction from NWE, Inc., an agent of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, on July 29, 1992 for $700,000; 17.9 acres from June Brehm Tabor et al. for $800,000; 7.4 acres from Frederick N. Khedouri in the form of a conservation restriction on December 03, 1999 for no payment; 15.6 acres (of 17 acres) from James Allen Athearn et al. in the form of an agricultural preservation restriction on August 31, 2000 for $459,000; 21.9 acres from Jeffery D. Hutchins, trustee of June Brehm Tabor trust on December 23, 2002 for $1,9000,000; and 12.3 acres from Kerry M. Elkin on April 15, 2008 for $825,000 of which 10.5 acres were previously subjected to land bank conservation and agricultural restrictions purchased from Mr. Elkin on June 26 and December 29, 1998 for $195,000. Seven commonwealth-listed wildlife species – Gerhard’s underwing (Catocala herodia gerhardi), imperial moth (Eacles imperialis), Melsheimer’s sack-bearer (Cicinnus meisheimeri), coastal healthland cutworm (Abagrotis nefascia), eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina), purple tiger beetle (Cicindela purpurea) and northern parula (Parula americana) – were recorded during surveys on the reservation. One commonwealth-listed plant species – sandplain blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium fuscatum) – along with five watch-listed plant species – woolly panic grass (Dichanthelium acuminatum ssp. acimunatum), awned wheat grass (Elymus trachycaulus ssp. Trachycaulus), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Nuttail’s milkwort (Polygala nuttalii) and little ladies-tresses (Spirnathes tuberosa) – are known to occur on the reservation. This management plan proposes promoting quail and woodcock habitat and plant diversity by converting 7.4 acres of mixed-oak woodland on the ridge of Peaked Hill to a mosaic of grassland, heathland and low shrubland; continuing to maintain the existing 1.3-acre grassland clearing on the southern summit of Peaked Hill; and continuing to maintain the 3.0-acre greenbrier shrubland that exists adjacent to the proposed ridge management area. The plan proposes to expand agricultural land by clearing 4.6 acres of shrubland and creating a 6.4-acre leasehold and create roadside views of the reservation through a 1-acre clearing along North Road. The plan also proposes to expand the trail system to include 4306’ of additional trail. In addition to the proposed objectives, the management plan includes maintaining the existing trail system of 2.2 miles at a width of 6 feet; controlling erosion issues; controlling invasive species; leasing 13.25 acres of open land for agricultural uses; maintaining existing viewsheds; and highlighting historical features of the reservation such as stone walls, prominent boulders and remnants of military fortifications. This management plan updates a December 29, 1993 plan and presents and analyzes the results of ecological inventories of the reservation. All planning goals, objectives and strategies are outlined in detail in the final section of this management plan. To be implemented, this plan must be presented at a public hearing and approved by the land bank’s Chilmark town advisory board, the Martha’s Vineyard land bank commission and the secretary of the executive office of energy and environmental affairs (EOEEA). About the author Julie Russell is the primary author and has been the land bank ecologist since August 1999. She is certified as a Wildlife Biologist by the Wildlife Society and holds a Master of Science in zoology from the Cooperative Wildlife Research Lab at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and a Bachelor of Science in wildlife biology from the School of Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. This plan is executed under the supervision of the land superintendent, Ian Peach. Superintendent Ian Peach attended Middlebury College and graduated with a Bachelors of Arts and has a Master of Landscape Architecture from Cornell University. PEAKED HILL RESERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN Table of Contents I. Natural Resource Inventory .................................................................................................... 6 A. Physical Characteristics..................................................................................................... 6 1. Locus .............................................................................................................................. 6 2. Survey Maps, Deeds and Preliminary Management Plan Goals ..................................... 6 3. Geology and Soils........................................................................................................... 6 4. Topography .................................................................................................................... 7 5. Hydrology ....................................................................................................................... 7 6. Ecological Processes ...................................................................................................... 7 B. Biological Characteristics ..................................................................................................10 1. Vegetation ......................................................................................................................10 2. Wildlife Habitat ................................................................................................................10 C. Cultural Characteristics ....................................................................................................12 1. Land History ...................................................................................................................12 2. Planning Concerns .........................................................................................................19 3. Abutters ..........................................................................................................................20 4. Existing Use and Infrastructure .......................................................................................20 II. Inventory Analysis .................................................................................................................23 A. Constraints & Issues ........................................................................................................23 1. Ecological Context .........................................................................................................23 2. Natural and Cultural Resource Concerns .......................................................................23 3. Sociological Context ......................................................................................................25 4. Neighborhood Concerns ................................................................................................25 B. Addressing Problems and Opportunities ...........................................................................26 1. Land Bank Mandate .......................................................................................................26 2. Goals at Purchase .........................................................................................................26